Shabbat Shalom from J'lem

Friday, January 23, 2015

I was
trying to describe what a country of physical contrasts Israel is to one of my
students, who hails from China. The first major contrast is its size. In a
world where Israel is on the front pages of national papers on a regular basis,
people who have never been there think that it must be at least the size of
India or even Egypt, with millions of people. Learning that you can drive from
west to east in a little over an hour, and from top to bottom in under 6 hours,
and that Israel is only a little larger than New Jersey about a quarter of the
size of Maine makes people really wonder how such a small place can have such
impact. The second major disconnect is the diverse geography. Fit into this
tiny land is a warm and exciting Mediterranean coast, a green and fertile
northern portion, home to fine wines;
the cool, hilly spiritual capital of Jerusalem, and a vast arid dessert,
full of canyons and rock formations. In one holiday driving less than a 250 km
radius we experienced balmy temperatures, wind and sand storms, driving rains,
and beautiful snowflakes, all in the same 5 day period. Not easy to duplicate anywhere else, that’s
for sure.

We left off
as we were heading for Shabbat in Netanya with Gila, Ariel and Elisha. This was
a time to wind down, relax and marvel at how quickly babies change and develop.
Elisha has progressed to crawling, standing up, cruising and climbing on all
kinds of things in a short period of time. We had fun playing with Elisha and I
think he enjoyed not having to share attention with the other kids (but we
definitely missed them).

Sunday was
Bruce’s last full day in Israel. We spent the day in the sunshine, taking walks
and enjoying a visit from Carol and David Novoseller, who escaped from Efrat to
enjoy some coastal sun and great views of the sea. It was terrific to catch up
with them. That evening was a real treat as well. We went to “Sorcerer’s Night”
at a dinner theatre called “Punchline” in Tel Aviv. This evening of magic
included visits from several magicians to each table for some close-up card
tricks and other sleight of hand, followed by a one hour+ show which included
some amazing memory tricks (Matan Rosenberg reciting the names of all 150
people in the audiences after talking to them while showing off his cards) and
an ESP demonstration (including having a sealed envelope with 7 random numbers that
matched the numbers chosen by 7 random people!). It was a great show, all in
English, and definitely worth the price of admission! I think they do weddings
and bar mitzvah’s as well…

Monday was
a day of tidying up and closing down the apartment, and one more family dinner
at Ariel and Gila’s house before Bruce would be off to the airport and Barbara
would go to Jerusalem for a conference. Here was another “only in Israel”
moment. We did take-out dinner to let Elisha go to sleep at his normal time.
Where did we go? To “Hello Teyman (Yemen)” a popular Shawarma place that is
located “in the gas station on the exit for Coca-Cola Junction (direct
translation)“. Who eats at a gas station? Well, in Israel,
you find good fast food in all kinds of weird places (and let me assure you, the
shawarma is first class there). And what is Coca Cola Junction?The highway exit that leads to the towns of
Givat Shmuel where Gila and Ariel live, and adjoining city of Bnei Brak has the
country’s Coca-Cola Plant and Distribution center. So the exit is named for
this famous bastion of “healthy” beverages!

The meeting in
Jerusalem is the4th International Conference on Pediatric Diseases Disability and Human
Development. There are major Canadian Connections at
this conference. First, it is sponsored by Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman of the Onex investment firm
and the Chapter’s/Indigo Bookstore chain. Secondly, there is a large Montreal
contingent presenting at the meeting, including Barbara, Debbie Feldman, Neomi
Dahan, and Dana Anaby representing both McGill and Université du Montreal. Thirdly,
Israel is a country that has some tremendous resources for the handicapped, and
one story I will relate had a surprise Canadian and family connection.

When we
spent Shabbat at Barbara’s cousin Linda and Allen’s home 2 weeks ago, they told
us a story that happened some 40+ years ago. It seems that an 18 year old
student from Vancouver, the son of close family friends, was going to spend some
time in Israel before going to an exchange program in Paris and then off to University,
ultimately to study law. So Linda invited Carey Samuels to spend Shabbat with
them. As luck would have it, Carey sat next to a Rabbi on the bus who asked
what his plans were. When he was told that Carey was going to study French
culture for a few months, he responded that he should really spend the time
learning about his own culture. The Rabbi gave Carey his card and invited him
for Shabbat the following week. He took up the offer, and slowly became greatly
enamored with studying Judaism. He was a superb student and progressed rapidly
in his new found field. This led to his giving up his plans of law school,
immersing in Jewish study and marrying at a young age. However, the couple’s
first child Yossi had a severe reaction to a badly prepared lot of vaccine, and
became quite handicapped. Carey and his wife put tremendous efforts into giving
their child all they needed. After several years and contact with many other
families with special needs children, they realized that there was a tremendous
need for programming and respite for families with special-needs children. So,
they began an organization. What began
on a small scale has grown into Shalva, with state of the art facilities and highly
innovative programs for handicapped kids. Today Carey Samuels, now known as
Kalman and his wife Malki are the guiding forces behind this amazing
organization. In fact Kalman spoke at the conference, and told his inspiring
story. And to think it all happened because of a bus ride to Linda and Allen’s
house!

Check out their website, http://www.shalva.org/ and see what else is going on, especially the link to the new Shalva center to open in August of this year! Also, check out this video of the Shalva Kids Choir doing Leonard Cohen!!

Barbara’s
presentation was on Thursday and was extremely well received. She then enjoyed
a wonderful steak dinner at the home of newlyweds Bilha and Chai. The
conference will be wrapping up Friday and then she’ll be back to Ariel ad Gila’s
house for Shabbat and the flight back to Montreal (via Toronto) on Saturday
night. It’s been quite a ride over the
last few weeks!

Best wishes
for good health and speedy recoveries (Refuah Shelema) to

Zysel bat
Bella

HaRav Chaim
Yechiel ben Malka

Raizy
Perton

Mazel Tov
to Avi and Nancy Hazan on the birth of a baby boy. Mazel to proud grandparents Rochelle and Jeff Rein (as
well as Jackie and Pascal Hazan and Nancy’s parents, who I don’t think will see
this unless someone sends them the link!)

A very happy birthday with extra hugs to the
most amazing person in my life, Barbara. You make every day special!

Friday, January 16, 2015

As people
working in a largely scientific field, it is not very often when we really take
a hard look and try to appreciate the more artsy side of life. These areas may
seem in fact dichotomous, but in truth, it is more like a left brain-right
brain thing; both are available to you but it depends on how developed one side
is over the other. Certain people have the amazing ability to excel at both
(like Prof Ronnie Gehr, a frequent commentator on this blog), while others
dabble at one and work hard at the other. This was certainly a week where we
experienced and really appreciated the arts and music side of Israeli life.

This really
starts with Shabbat last week at Barbara’s cousin’s, the Zysblatt’s. Linda and
Allen (AKA Zysh) made Aliyah from Vancouver in the early 70’s and have been
French Hill residents for 38 years. We have enjoyed visiting them many times
and have shared simchas and watched their children grow to be successful
adults. Both Linda and Zysh are retired Hebrew University professors, Linda in
English and Allen in the Faculty of Law. Well, Friday night was spent with them
and 4 close friends from French Hill, all but one who emigrated to Israel from
Western Canada in the 60’s or 70’s! It was very cool to meet them, and since
they had been in the country through many of its formative years, we heard
stories about interaction with politicians and historical figures in the life
of Israel. Among the highlights of the
weekend were some incredibly delicious and artfully presented dishes that were
served by Linda. These were actually her daughter Nomi’s recipes, part of her
catering repertoire.

Now the
arts part. The Zysblatt kids are all adults now and extremely successful in
their own right. There are no lawyers; rather, Elana is a sculptor, married to
an artist who works as a home designer and builder, living in Vancouver; Daniel
is an award winning journalist and film maker, based in Indonesia; and Nomi is
a musician, who has developed her culinary skills and runs a successful
business making designer frozen treats called Paletas as well as being a
successful caterer (as noted above).

On Sunday
night we had the pleasure of attending one of Nomi Zysblatt’s concerts, at Café
Bialik in Tel Aviv. Nomi composed almost all the music played and does her own
arranging. She sings beautifully, and her songs are primarily ballads with
recurrent nature imagery: light and dark, rain and water, the seasons, fields
and other descriptors of beauty. She
performed with a group of friends that included a classical violist, guitar,
flute, bass and piano. She herself plays piano and guitar (at least) as well as
terrific vocal. There is a link to a sample You-tube below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxnwx8DuXU

To continue
the theme, we jump to Wednesday, when we visited Ein Hod. This is an artist
colony, nestled in the hills just south of Haifa. The town was founded in the
50’s and many of the artists live there and have their wares displayed in
stores and galleries. We visited a shop where the artist dyed silk and other
cloths and then printed on them with gold foil. She also made gold and silver
clasps for scarves, and her husband built furniture, and photographed Israeli
cloudscapes. Another shop was the home of the Magal family, the second
generation of ceramic makers who paint with glaze, which leads to a spectacular
effect in color once the glaze is heated to nearly 2000F. The shopkeepers were
identical twin sisters who learned this remarkable technique from their mother
and whose father was a painter who had come to Israel in the 30’s. Now the third
generation, one of the twin’s sons, are also accomplished artists. Quite
amazing; makes you want to get in touch with your more artistic side!

The week
clearly went by very quickly, with some other terrific highlights. We visited
with Ann and Jonathan Homa and Bilha and
Orly Fruchter on Saturday night, visiting the newly renovated “Old train
Station” in Jerusalem. They all were doing really well. Since that was so much
fun, we went to the old Train station in Tel Aviv the next evening, prior to
Nomi’s concert. Monday was Ariel’s birthday, so we celebrated that evening at a
new Grill Restaurant in Tel Aviv called Rafael. Highly recommended.

On Tuesday
we got really spontaneous and invited old friends, the Selah’s and the Maliach’s,
for a late dinner at our home. They both lived in Montreal at the same time
(1999-2001) so it was a fun reunion. This was after some beautiful long walks
along the boardwalk in Netanya, taking advantage of the two sunny days we have
had in the midst of several days of rain. Since rain is good for the country,
no complaints…

We are
winding down to Shabbat, and Gila, Ariel and Elisha have joined us. It promises
to be really nice and lots of fun.
However, we would like to share that we visited Rav Chaim (Howie) Rothman
yesterday at the Bet Levenstein Rehablitation center in Raanana. Howie was a
victim of the horrible attack on Har Nof and unfortunately is still in a coma.
We visited with his family and sat at his bedside, hopefully to give some
strength toward recovery. At the exit to
the center, there is a sign on the wall that translates to “A place of hope”.
I think that’s a poignant message after that visit and no less in the aftermath
of the attacks in France and the turmoil going on around us in the world.

Friday, January 9, 2015

We woke up
this morning, looked out the window and we were treated to a beautiful display
of light, fluffy snowflakes. It was about 2C, the snow was melting upon
contact, and the air was fresh and crisp. Sounds like a winter wonderland, say,
in Canada? If you guessed that, you would be wrong. I am describing the scene
this morning in Jerusalem!

Now, snow
in Jerusalem is not common, although this is the third year in a row that the
city has been hit by a snow storm. In fact, the last 2 years, there was
actually significant accumulation, and last year there were people stranded on
the roads for days as the concept of winter tires, salt on the roads, or even
snow plows is as foreign as, let’s say, pork (actually, there is more pork in
Israel than winter tires). This year, to anticipate the worst, elementary and
high schools were cancelled on Tuesday for both Wednesday and Thursday, and
Hebrew University also cancelled classes till Sunday. Both major highways into
Jerusalem were closed to traffic on Wednesday. Fortunately, no snow stayed on
the ground, and we drove here yesterday in chilly rainy conditions, but no
worse for the wear. The whole Middle East is being hit by unusually cold
weather. Turkey, Iran and Lebanon have had significant snow accumulation, as
has Northern Israel. Just to get an idea how unusual this weather it, this
morning’s radio weather report had the weather announcer say to the Newscaster,
“You will never believe the low for tonight…brace yourself…-3!” which caused the
newsman to reply “Unbelievable” or some such exclamation! (thanks to Zeish for
that anecdote!). Not too impressive for those back home in Montreal with a low
of -38, I guess.

So, how did
we get here? Well, this trip started way back on December 28th for Bruce,
and on December 16th for Barbara. In the interim, there have been 3
weddings, lots of trips from Netanya to Givat Shmuel, time with children and grandchildren,
and even a trip to the desert. Usually I would have broken this up into two
installments, but last week flew by, so I apologize, but here come the
highlights!

Three weddings
in 10 days is pretty intense, and Barbara got to experience them all (and Bruce
only the third). Gila’s sister Pnina married Rafi from England just outside of
Beit Shemesh, Tali Faust married Gal in the vineyard of Caesarea, and Marnina
Hermann from Toronto was married in Neve Ilan to Yehonatan. Israeli weddings
are always great fun, with the ceremony being informal and people singing and
dancing throughout the proceedings. All were beautiful smachot (celebrations) with
great food, great music, spirited dancing and of course friends and relatives
to see and catch up on all the news.

Most of the
last week of 2014 was spent with our kids, as Elan, Nomi, Shoshana, Shlomo and
Nadav had come from Toronto to vacation and see Nomi’s family in Modi’in. They
moved into our Natanya apartment to spend a few days with us before they returned
to Canada. We actually got to go to the (fairly deserted) beach one afternoon
(23C, but we are Canadians after all) and built sandcastles and played in the
surf which was a blast for kids and adults alike. However, the temperature
dropped the next day, the winds started to pick up, and our outdoor activities
were reduced to visits to the park, and some trips to malls. Gila and Elisha
joined us on Thursday, and Ariel came the next day. We had a great Shabbat together,
with lots of family time and play time. The cousins really get along, and it’s
really cute to see Nadav and Elisha, who are ten days apart in age, play
together (only occasionally trying to kill each other over the same toy…)

OK, as we
are in Israel, we need to talk politics. An election was called a few weeks
ago, and the different parties are scrambling to develop their electoral lists.
In Israel, as opposed to our system or the US system, voters vote for a party,
and the Members of the Knesset are chosen based on the percentage of the vote
the party gets and where the candidate is on the party’s priority list. The
Leader is number 1, then others are ranked in order of preference from other
party members. Then parties also add slots to make sure they have female
representation, religious representation, non-religious representation, animal
representation, what have you. This can
lead to some crazy situations, and lots of jostling, arguing, back-stabbing…and
that is within a single party, before the mudslinging to the other parties. In
fact, there are not a lot of new faces in this election, but what happens in
Israel is that if you aren’t happy, you change parties, you merge parties, or
you start a new one! So the electorate is generally completely confused, and all
governments are based on minority coalition agreements. One player gets upset,
changes direction, drops out…call a new election! So the circus starts all over
again. Maybe next week we can deal with some of the more interesting characters
involved.

Tuesday we
headed south to the Negev Desert, to the town of Mitzpe Ramon, home of a giant crater/canyon.
We decided to take a desert holiday, at the Beresheit Spa Hotel. The setting
was awe-inspiring; desert canyons, sand and rock formations; we were surrounded
by desolate beauty. The hotel itself was great, with all rooms being in small
buildings with 4 rooms, including sitting areas, and some with private pools.
The only slight downside was the weather; around 4-6C with winds of 70-80km/hr.
There was a sandstorm and some real huge gusts of winds that could knock you
over. In spite of that, we had an amazing time and would definitely recommend the
hotel to whoever wants a real special get-away.

Leaving the
south on Thursday we drove to Barbara’s cousins Linda and Alan Zysblatt, where
we will be spending Shabbat on French Hill, near Mount Scopus.

As the snow
continues to blanket Jerusalem, we wish everyone a warm and meaningful Shabbat Shalom!

A special
Hello To Daniella, Monty, Tali and the Wagner’s, who are “toughing it out” in
Florida, first at Disney and now in Miami (Baubiami?)!

We wish
Refuah Shlema to Zysel bat Bella

We wish
Refuah Shlema to HaRav Chaim Yechiel ben Malca

We wish very
Happy Birthday to Ariel!

We wish a
very Happy Special Birthday to Sylvia!

We wish a
very Happy Birthday to Uncle Paul!

We wish to
express condolences to those affected by the horrible terrorist attack in
Paris. May good always prevail over evil.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Here I am,
reporting from Israel again. Sounds like a foreign correspondent? Well maybe.
It’s always great to be here, even for a short time. And when I say short, I
mean VERY short, as in 3 nights. That’s a quick trip by any standards. I
arrived in Israel Wednesday at noon, went directly to Haifa, where I am an
invited speaker at the joint meeting of the Israeli Allergy and Clinical
Immunology Society and Immunodeficiency Canada. This is the first time there
has been a joint meeting between these Canadian and Israeli groups and this is
hopefully not the last. We have a lot of common interests and many Israelis
have trained in Canadian Hospitals, so the synergy exists between our medical
communities.

Welcome to
Israel-Part 1: As part of being invited, I was to be picked up by a driver. You
know, one of those guy’s with the signs? For once, you can actually look for
you name (although I am sure we have all travelled and half hoped there is
someone holding a sign with our name to surprise us…doesn’t happen though). I
am picked up by a 70ish Israel gentleman, who takes me to his van and wants to
lift my suitcase. It is stuffed with things for Elisha, Ariel and Gila, so I
know it’s heavy and pass. We take off and he is very chatty. Along highway 2,
he asks if I want to stop for coffee. I say, no, it’s OK, let’s go to the
hotel. He asks again 10 minutes later. Then he gets off in Hadera, and
announces with a smile that he called ahead, and we are stopping for coffee. I
look for a special café or restaurant. Nope, we drive into a residential area a
few minutes from Hillel Jaffe Hospital. Then we pull up to a house. Who lives
there, you ask? See, my driver grew up in Hadera, and though he now lives near
Rishon, he has a friend from first grade that he always visits when he is in
the neighborhood. The friend is very nice,
serves coffee, we chat for 10 minutes, my driver asks his friend directions to
the Dan Carmel (even though he has a GPS) then we get back on the road.
Supposedly there are 15 classmates from first grade who are in close touch with
each other. No wonder in retirement Zvi, the driver, decided on this vocation.
Only in Israel! (everywhere else you would be mugged, robbed and left on the
side of the road).

Welcome to
Israel-Part 2: Haifa is extremely pretty. It is one of those jewels that people
really don’t appreciate. I am staying at the Dan Carmel, where Barbara and I
have stayed for conferences before. Haifa is a city built on the Mt. Carmel
mountain and ending on the shore of the Mediterranean. The hotel is right on
the top. The beautiful Bhai gardens are just below. From the hotel window you
can see the bay, the water and the mountains in the distance (see picture!) The
view is spectacular. That coupled with the sunshine and temperature in the 20’s
and it’s a great escape from -14 in Montreal. Too bad I leave Saturday night.

Welcome to
Israel- Part 3:the conference organized a concert Thursday night, which was
actually quite cool. It featured the Shem-Tov Levi Ensemble. Shem-Tov Levi is a
composer and jazz flautist who wrote many songs that were popularized in Israel
by the King of Israeli Pop music, Arik Einstein, who passed away one year ago.
For my Israeli colleagues, it was not only an evening of great music but of
nostalgia.

The
conference went very well and my talk was well received. It’s fun to network
with people in the field and we discussed common projects and healthcare
problems. Gila, Ariel and Elisha have
come for Shabbat, so that will be special.

This past
week was the Yahrtzeit (memorial anniversary) for our dear mother, grandmother
and great –grandmother Mollie Samuel, Malca bat Moshe. This weekend is the
Yahrtzeit of our grandfather and great-grandfather Moe Aspell (Elimelech ben
Menachem Mendel). In honor of these very special people, I am including a short
D’var Torah.

This week’s
Torah portion is Va’Yishlach. The Torah portion chronicles Ya’acov (Jacob) and his family’s entry back into Israel.
There are many important events that are described in this portion; Jacob’s
tense reunion with his brother, Esav; kidnapping and rape of his daughter
Dinah, the establishment of a home in the land of Israel, among others.
Throughout, there is a very strong sense of the importance of family. Prior to
meeting Esav, whose threat to kill Jacob caused him to leave his home over two
decades before, Jacob prays that G-d will save him from his brother’s wrath.
Not only does he pray, but he splits his family of 12 son’s and 4 wives into 2
camps so one can escape if the other is attacked. What is remarkable is that in
his prayer, he does not only pray for personal salvation, knowing that Esav’s vendetta
may be personal, but he implores “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau;
else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike.” The Hebrew text mirrors the slightly awkward
syntax of this verse; there is no pause or conjunction between V’Hikani (strike
me down) and Eim al Banim (mothers with children). Thus, the meaning is clear.
The responsibility of a father ceases to be himself once he has a family; the
responsibility is now for everyone, indeed you are one with your wife and
children; it is not “he will strike me and the mothers and children” but all are one inseparable unit.

The parasha
highlights the birth of Binyamin and the death of Rachel in childbirth. Rachel
is buried near Bethlehem, and the site is marked till today on the road to
Jerusalem. Why was she not buried in the family gravesite in Hebron, Ma’arat
Hamachpela? We are taught by the Prophet
Jeremiah that Rachel laments over her children’s exile. The sages teach that
when Israel was destroyed by the Babylonians and the Jews were exiled, Rachel
interceded and begged for mercy for her children, and her prayers were
answered. This teaches us again the
tight bond of a family. A mother’s love has
no bounds; it is the most natural behavior for a mother to do everything in her
power on behalf of her family.

The place where
Rachel is buried is marked and visited until today. People use it as a place of
inspiration in times of trouble. Interestingly, it is the only time in the
Torah when it explicitly says that a monument was placed to mark a burial. This
custom today is universal; to have a memorial is to be remembered for generations. As we mark the anniversary of the passing of
our loved ones, we remember the powerful example that Molly Samuel set as a
mother who would go to great lengths for her children and extended family. May her memory always be a blessing for us
and may we hold true to her values of family and generosity.

Shabbat Shalom

Barbara and Bruce

Happy 3rd
Birthday to Talia Bella Mazer!

We wish Nomi,
Shoshana, Shlomo and Nadav a Nesiah Tova as the travel to Israel, and to Elan
who will join them shortly!

Friday, July 4, 2014

These posts are usually crafted during
travels, but almost always with some Israeli connection, either passing through
a place on the way to Israel or actually being there. That’s where the name Mazer-in
–Jerusalem came from since the blog started there. But there are always
exceptions…like this week. We will take you from Montreal to San Diego to Mazatlán,
Mexico, and back to Montreal. It’s been a fun week of conferences, teaching and
exploring some new and beautiful places and learning new lessons.

The genesis of all this started about a
year ago, with a colleague and friend from Mexico named Juan Antonio “Tony”
Sacre. Tony is a pediatric allergist in Mexico whose daughters live in Montreal
(studying at McGill and Concordia). When Tony is in Montreal, he visits us at
McGill and the Children’s and at Meakins Christie. We often discuss cases and
medical problems as well as family and life. Tony was elected secretary of the
Mexican College of Pediatric Allergists and Immunologists (Compedia), and as
part of his job was to coordinate the Annual meeting of Compedia. In our
discussions, he suggested that he would like to invite me to speak at the
meeting, in a resort in Mexico. I asked if I could bring Barbara and he said,
absolutely! So began the journey…

The Compedia meeting was to be from June
25-29; but soon after our trip to Switzerland this March, I was invited to
speak at another conference in San Diego on June 23-24; since the Mexican
meeting was to be held on the Pacific coast, this would be feasible. So I set out for San Diego for a two day meeting at the University of
California in San Diego in La Jolla on “GlycoImmunology”. Not to go into the
technicalities, it was a really interesting meeting and an opportunity to meet
some really good scientists. Of course, La Jolla is always a treat to visit. The temperature varied between 17 and 22C, palm trees were everywhere and the setting was really pretty. We stayed at the
Sheraton La Jolla, which coincidentally is across the street from a Ralph’s
supermarket with a large Kosher take-out and deli and a Trader Joe’s. We were
also a 20 minute walk away from the La Jolla JCC which has a Kosher restaurant.
So California travelers, if you are planning a few days in the La Jolla area,
and would like to have convenient access to provisions, this is the place to
stay. Barbara arrived on Tuesday afternoon, had some time around the pool, then
we shopped (more about that later) and went to the JCC for dinner. We were due
to leave at 6:30 the next morning, so we called it a night somewhat earlier to
be ready to go to the airport.

The next morning, we were on our way to Mexico. We
learned that the resort in Mazatlán was unable to work things out with a Kosher
caterer, so we brought some schnitzel and turkey cold cuts, which a local
Chabad Rav had said would not be a problem. Of course, Mexico has crazy laws
about food, and we were told 10 times on the plane to declare all foods, so we
did. And guess what? Our chicken was confiscated. No amount of cajoling or
explaining about kashrut or illness or pain of death would let them let it
pass. So, we were transferred from the airport to the Emerald Bay Pueblo Bonita
resort on the beach of Mazatlan, sans chicken! We did get to keep rolls and
Yves fake meat, so all was not lost. It did lead to us eating lots of fish wrapped in aluminum foil, which worked out well, except for the night the chef wrapped 2 cans of tuna in foil (don't ask....)

We stayed at the Peublo Bonita Emerald Bay.
The resort is secluded, built just above the public beach, right on the Pacific
Coast. It’s full of beautiful gardens, pools, and spectacular sunsets. It would be an amazing place to take long
walks, except that it was 34 degrees outside (with the humidex it’s 42!). OK, so we took
short walks, used the pool and especially appreciated the air conditioning. All
the hotel rooms are large suites with bedrooms and large living rooms with
kitchenettes. The windows face the ocean and the lovely sunsets. Pretty
spectacular.

As faculty at the conference we have been
treated really well. Wednesday night, the opening program included a cocktail
party, a group of traditional dancers and a “Banda”, a traditional local band.
There was quite a show. On Thursday, the professors were taken to a restaurant
in a home built 151 years ago,
including a fig tree growing through the roof of the first floor into the
second floor. I spoke at the conference
on Thursday and Friday and the talks were very well received. There were lots
of questions during and after the presentations. The crowd was very Latin
American, enthusiastic, ebullient, and very fun loving.

We had a great, quiet Shabbat, with some
down time to hang out and read. In contrast, the conference had their closing
dinner Friday night, with dancing till 3 AM! These guys have lots of energy!

So what is so special about Mazatlán? We
found out quite a bit on a tour of the city Sunday afternoon. The city is
nestled along the coast and really was developed in the 1800s. It has an 11 km boardwalk
along the beach which is filled with people, especially after dark (considering
the heat). Like many Mexican cities, it has many plazas and squares and especially
monuments, to everything from the city’s name (Mazatlan means “Deer”) to the
continuity of the Family. There is even one to the city’s most famous industry,
the Pacifico Brewery. Now, how does a land known for Tequila become the home to
many excellent beers? There was a huge influx of Austrian and German immigrants
in the latter half of the 1800’s. Three German immigrants started the Brewery
in Mazatlán. And, as you know with the coming of Europeans, there has to be a
Jewish connection…

This brings us to the Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception in the Center of Old Mazatlan. (“What?” you are saying, “He’s
lost it, too much sun….that name does not sound remotely Jewish!”) This
cathedral is truly beautiful, as cathedrals often are, very ornate, and full of
religious imagery. However, there is a difference. When we arrived, our guide asked
what is unusual about the Cathedral? Look at the stained glass window in the
picture. See it? Each stained glass window, 28 in all, are crowned with a Magen
David, a Star of David. This is in tribute to three Jewish families, who, in
the late 1880’s and 90’s aided in the construction of the church with large
donations and contributions of the marble for the floor and other things. The
28 windows? In honor of the 28 days of a typical lunar month in the Jewish calendar.
Now, I am sure that in many circles, this would be considered a sacrilege. Personally,
though, I think this really represents a Kiddush HaShem, a sanctification of
G-d. This is proof of the good that can come from people working together, and
respecting each other. According to Wikipedia, in the 1800’s there were barely
200 Jewish families in all of Mexico. In Mazatlán, it would have been surprising
if there was even a minyan (10 Jewish males required for communal prayer). On
the other hand, the agrarian community of Mazatlán was likely not overly
wealthy, much like today. So when the Catholic majority built their house of
G-d, the minute Jewish community chipped in and the gratitude is forever etched
in the magnificent stained glass for all to see.

Mexico was a great place to relax, enjoy
the sun and learn about another culture with tremendous joie de vivre. However,
in this very trying week, with the loss of three precious boys in Israel and
escalation of violence across the entire Middle East, we can learn a lot from
the stained glass in Mazatlán about co-operation, mutual respect and helping one’s
fellow man.

May we all be blessed with a peaceful and
warm Shabbat

Barbara and Bruce

PS: Many thanks to Pancho and Rose-Marie for making sure we stayed out of trouble

Happy Fourth of July to all our US friends (and
our kids living in the US!)

Monday, April 21, 2014

Close your eyes…picture yourself flying over desert, seas,
ancient ruins, mountains, forests, lakes and castles, then across oceans, rocky
cliffs and large cities…and at the end of the journey, you have arrived in a
place with friendly faces into the loving arms of family. Imagination? Perhaps,
but actually, this was what we did in the middle of the week, flying from Israel
to Toronto to end the holiday with the rest of the family. Now to fill in the
blanks!

The Passover Seder: Last Monday seems like a long time ago,
considering the busy week, but we will wind the clock back to the Seder night at the home of Geula and Yitzhak
Twersky. I have written about the Seder each of the past 4 years, and reflected
on the amazing educational event that it is. It is much more than telling the
Passover story of the Exodus of the Jewish People from Egypt. Done properly, it is truly a re-living of
events, an opportunity to place oneself right into the story and feel the power
of the experience. The Twersky home was a terrific and unique example of how to
accomplish this. Gila has 9 brothers and sisters and 8 of the children (plus
Ariel and Elisha) were there for the Seder. Geula had procured a “bag of tricks”;
a large sac of toys and games that mirrored themes in the story and were given
out throughout the evening to the kids. There were also new books, Haggadot
that told the story of Passover, given to the younger siblings. The Twersky teens
also prepare a Passover play for all to take part in; a terrific adaptation of
the music of Annie to the Pesach story!! As we talked and sang into the wee
hours of the morning, everyone seemed to gather more energy as the evening went
on, not less!

The next
day we were invited to lunch at the home of Chani and Reuven Or. The Ors were
our next door neighbors for almost 2 years in Denver. When we were all
Denverites, their then teenage daughters were our babysitters and their sons
were playmates for Monty and Elan. Fast forward to the present, and there are
a lot of grownups and 12 grandchildren! Besides catching up with Reuven and
Chani, we had a lot of fun talking to the rest of the family, reminiscing and marveling
at where the time has gone. Of course, seeing our own kids and grandchildren means
that we are caught in the same time warp!

The Festival of
Freedom: One
of the beautiful things about our trips to Israel is the joie de vivre, excitement
and liveliness in the streets. This is no more apparent than during Passover,
when the weather is perfect, most people are on holiday and just about everyone
is out on some type of “tiyul” (Hebrew for trip or outing). The streets and squares
are packed, the restaurants are full (as if we don’t eat enough on this holiday)
and things are really buzzing. Passover
is called the holiday of Freedom due to the Exodus from Egypt. Outside of
Israel, it seems that everyone is still slaving in the kitchen or in the
supermarket, preparing for the holiday for weeks in advance. In Israel, the
sense of freedom is palpable as you marvel at the masses of people travelling everywhere.

Oleh Leregel: OK, now it’s time for your bible lesson. Lets’ check Exodus Chapter 34, Leviticus, Chapter 23 and Deuteronomy ,Chapter
15. What is the main theme in common? There are three Jewish holidays,
Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, which were marked by the entire nation gathering in
Jerusalem from the Ancient Biblical times until the destruction of the second Temple
in 70AD. These holidays were the Shalosh
Regalim; the three festivals that one walked to Jerusalem to gather with
the rest of the nation. Although this is no longer part of the official celebration
(until such time as the Third Temple is built!) people still flock to Jerusalem
on the holidays. Wednesday, before we left for Toronto, Barbara, Gila, Ariel, baby
Elisha and I went to Jerusalem and met with Lynda and Alan Zysblatt, Barbara’s cousins.
We had lunch just outside the Old City and then walked to the Jewish Quarter and
the Western Wall. We were joined by thousands of people, Israeli’s and Tourists,
streaming through the streets of the ancient Capital. It was an amazing sight, as
we jostled to descend to the plaza where the Western Wall is situated and
joined groups in prayer next to the Wall. It’s very humbling to think that you
are next to the structure that belonged to the Second Temple and that has outlasted
over 2 Millennia. This was an appropriate way to say farewell to this leg of
the trip, as we headed back to Netanya to pack and prepare for the flight the
next morning.

Shabbat: We arrived in Toronto on Thursday evening, just
in time to help with dinner and to tuck Shoshana and Shlomo into bed. Friday was a catch up and prepare for Shabbat
day, which led into a reunion with the other side of the family! Shabbat was
spent at Elan and Nomi’s home in Toronto, and Monty, Daniella and Tali joined
us, along with Nomi’s parents Karyn and Robert and sibs Adina and Daniel. Just seeing everyone was great, but watching
the kids play together was phenomenal. This was made even more special by
seeing Nadav, one week post-op, looking amazing, drinking, playful and smiling
like a six week old should! The comment of the weekend was Shlomo’s exclamation
this morning that that was the best Shabbat, ‘cuz he could play with his
cousin! I think we would second that; having our kids and their kids around
makes all of these the best possible Shabbat.

So we are now
entering in to the end of the Passover holiday, which in general corresponds
with the Easter Holiday, so hopefully everyone reading this will have some special
time with their friends and family as we move through this long weekend!

Monday, April 14, 2014

So, here we
are, a few hours before Passover. This is the fourth year that we are spending
Passover in Israel. Passover, or Pesach, is the holiday of freedom. The Jewish
people were taken from slavery to freedom, going from a broken people to
becoming a nation. The concepts of Passover are amazing universal messages: no
man should lord over another, no man should own another, no nation should think
that others are beneath them or inferior to them. The Seder tonight reenacts
the Exodus from Egypt, and the acceptance by the Jews of the responsibility of being
a nation; to build a society and to serve G-d. I think these are messages that
are no less important today as 3000 years ago; in fact, maybe more so. When we
look at the world today, people clearly have not embodied what had been taught millennia
ago.

The past 10
days have been ultra-eventful, so get set! We left off in Switzerland, in the
lovely town of Interlaken. We were attending the 7th International
IVIg Congress which was a small meeting of about 200 researchers in Immunology
and related fields. The unifying theme was the use of intravenous immunoglobulin
in treatment of diseases. I recently published a paper that received quite a bit
of notice at the meeting, so it was a lot of fun to discuss theories and
practicalities (and politics) in the field with the others. We had a really
nice Shabbat, with nice mild weather, perfect for a long walk to one of the lakes,
which took up a good part of late Saturday afternoon. The lakes were nestled between a series of
mountains, making it quite idyllic, a lot like Aspen (but not quite as built up
or affluent in the town).

Sunday
morning, we were off to Israel, taking the first train of the day from Interlaken
to the Zurich Airport. Not only is it super convenient to take the train to the
airport, but the luggage drop off is in the train station, so you are free of
your bags in minutes. Then off to the terminal and a flight to Israel, landing
at 2:30. The next major stop would be Bilha
and Chai’s wedding, with a few minor stops in between….Car pick up, Netanya to
drop off our bags and get dressed , Givat Shmuel to pick up Ariel, Gila and
Elisha and then to the wedding hall. Luckily, the wedding hall was a five
minute drive from Ariel’s house! That made things work out just perfectly. The wedding
was gorgeous, with many highlights, including the fact that Bilha’s brother Yacov
was the Mesader Kedushin, the presiding
clergy for the wedding. That made it all the more meaningful. There was a nice
cohort of Montrealers, both present and past, who came to celebrate with the Fruchter
family. Of course great food and terrific music topped off the evening.

The next
two days were ideal grandparent days. Since Gila and Ariel are both in school (although
Gila has been off for maternity leave) they took advantage of the “free” child
care to have us hang out with Elisha. As you can see by the accompanying
pictures, he is a real sweetie! He is beginning to be playful, looking at toys
and following, an occasional smile…perfect 6 week old behavior. So, we strolled
him around the local mall and around campus. He played his part really well too,
sleeping or lying contented unless he needed feeding. Definitely a classy baby.

Mixing a
bit of business with the pleasure, I visited Tel Aviv University and gave a
lecture to the immunology group,which was well received. My host was a superb
immunologist named Ariel Munitz, who’s work I have followed as he trained with
a good friend, Marc Rothenberg. Here is
a new security wrinkle. You don’t just press up or down to call an elevator in
the medical school building. You tell it which floor you want to go to and it
tells you which elevator to take. When you get it there are no buttons to push.
I am not sure why that is helpful, but it was a great conversation piece.

The rest of
the time was punctuated with visits with Sylvia and Haim Fruchter in Netanya,
and with Michal and Ronen Sela and family on a beach outside Netanya. Sylvia
and Haim were in post wedding mode, visiting family and friends and
criss-crossing the county. We picked up Gila and Ariel and the baby on Thursday
to give them a bit of a pre-Passover holiday near the beach. We took some very
nice sea-side walks, hung out and had a really nice Shabbat together. Sunday included Passover preparations,
although this year, things would be a bit different for us, as we were not
hosting the Seder, but rather we are joining Gila’s family for Seder on Monday
night. We’re very excited about spending the next couple of days in Neve Daniel. Check out an article about Geula in this week's Jerusalem Post and her painitngs!

Of course,
life is not always about vacations and fun. A few people noticed that I didn’t
send out a post in the customary way on Friday afternoon. This was because at
the time we were a bit pre-occupied about things going on in Toronto. Our youngest
grandson, Nadav, had been vomiting for a few days, and was evaluated at the
Hospital for Sick Children. They diagnosed a small intestinal obstruction
(pyloric stenosis) which required a small surgical procedure on Wednesday
night. He improved nicely, but as of the beginning of Shabbat in Israel, we did
not know if he would be discharged. We
are happy to report that he left the hospital on Friday midafternoon, and based
on a great Skype call yesterday, it is clear that he is back to normal! He fed
really well Saturday and Sunday . Shoshana and Shlomo were super happy to have
their little brother (and parents) home and everyone was back to the daily tasks
like shopping and cooking for Passover! Kudos to the nursing and medical staff
at Sick Kids for a job very well done!

So, Thank
G-d, everyone in the family is at home (or at least in someone’s home!) and
will be celebrating Passover with loved ones; we with the Twersky’s in Israel,
Elan and Nomi and co. with Nomi’s family
in Toronto, Daniella, Monty and Tali with the Wagner clan in Toronto, my
mom in Edmonton with my sister Roanne, etc…! As we sit around the Seder table
discussing the Exodus from Egypt and the concept of freedom, we will pause to
be thankful for both the ups and downs of life, because without the challenges,
it may be hard to truly appreciate the good things.

Wishing
everyone a Happy Passover, and Chag Kasher v’sameach and a Happy Easter!

Barbara and
Bruce

Mazel Tov
to Bilha and Chai on their marriage last week! Mazel Tov to our great Friends
Sylvia and Haim

Fruchter and family on this wonderful simcha!

Mazel to to
Ashi and Dassy Stenge and Grandma Gail on the birth of a baby boy!

Mazel to to
Moti and Sarah Stenge and Savta Gail on the birth of twin boys! Busy week!!